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If you want to inspire developers to innovate on your platform, an SDK isn't enough.

Hardware without software is an expensive rock, and an application platform without developers isn't much more useful. But it's difficult to attract and maintain robust developer support when today's connected world is flooded with opportunities to create apps.

No matter how compelling the technology, an SDK just isn't enough.

Scott Burnell recently talked with i2Integration about the importance of a developer ecosystem. The Global Lead, Business Development & Partner Management for the Ford Developer Program explained why the i2Integration-supported Developer Portal, App Catalog and other features have been crucial to his team's success.

"A developer ecosystem is really a true ecosystem," he said, "in that it has a number of different components that all hold together different areas of developer needs. It gives them that ability to take an idea all the way through fruition, into an actual product."

Burnell cited the strong tool set as a key feature for developer empowerment; members of the Ford Developer Program have access to information, personnel, traditional assets such as SDKs and developer guides, and extensive support.

A lot of the feedback he hears from developers is how helpful the ecosystem is for getting started.

"Whether you're building software, enabling things to talk to each other over IoT, or just brainstorming and creating brand new products," Burnell said, the big question is, what's Step One? "So, really having a good base and a good jumping-off point, where you can give the background to developers, they're very appreciative of that."

Better yet, developers tell his team that they love being able to count on information and resources being continuously updated and maintained.

They don't want to go looking for an answer for an issue that they're having, or a hurdle that they can't quite get over, and see material that was placed on the website three or four years ago," Burnell said. "They want to have the most up-to-date and pertinent information so they can actually get the answer they're looking for."

One of the most important drivers of developer engagement is the human component. When support and guidance is available via phone, email, Slack, blog posts or even in-person events, the trust factor is much stronger.

But how important can a developer ecosystem be to actually attracting developers and maintaining their engagement? Can i2Integration's services really be a powerful driver of third-party application support?

"It's been the backbone of the Ford Developer Program," Burnell said. "A commercial-facing, end-user facing asset like a developer site is invaluable. One of the whole reasons we spun up the developer site and made it a big component is simply the number of man-hours it takes. I mean, the world's a big place, and we don't have a really big team."

For Burnell, overseeing platform developments across several continents means it's vital that developer resources—tools, downloads, support systems that aren't just based out of one office—are available worldwide, 24/7, to cater to the needs of all developers.

"The impact is obviously seen on the number of developers we have who are still joining the program, and those who have stayed around and are still active," Burnell said. "The fact that we have about 20,000 developers inside the ecosystem that i2Integration has helped Ford build is a good testament that the material we provide, the resources we provide are what the developers are looking for."

Of course, the end goal is application support—and Burnell is more than pleased with the ideas and products inspired and supported by the developer ecosystem, which currently has launched about 120 apps around the world.

"In the automotive world, if you combine all of the apps that have been launched from all the other OEMs globally, it doesn't even come close to what we've done," he said.

And, Burnell said, there's more to come. "I think the updates that we've been working on, to the tools, and the developer site itself, are really going to impress the developer community. It's going to make things easier for them, actually increase their capability to get content directly into Ford—and we're also expanding that across into the world of SDL and the open source connectivity system that we're a part of. i2Integration is integral in pulling that together so we can have those systems talk to each other as well."

Burnell believes the impact of i2Integration's services and features can be felt all the way inside the vehicle—in user experience itself.

"I think because we've stayed on top of the tools and the messaging, and really because we've stayed in front of the developers, as we've grown the capabilities in-vehicle—from the original SYNC with the two-line dot-matrix display, to SYNC3 now with the nice color display, with touchscreen, pinch-and-zoom capabilities, with the voice capabilities that we've got now—we've had a pretty good seamless evolution inside the vehicle."

Updates, changes and new features have been rolled out to developers, sometimes even before their commercial launch. The smooth rollout of the SYNC3 platform is a prime example.

"As the vehicles roll off, there were apps that were already capable of working with that new interface," Burnell said. "It's been a very important tool to be able to make sure our owners have the best applications and components that are working with the new hardware and software that we're putting in the vehicles."

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Your CMS: Beware of ‘good enough’

When it comes to content management systems, there are essentially three levels, and for ease of use we’ll just use the terms basic, medium and high functionality.

The basic functionality sites are the cloud-based solutions, such as Weebly and Wix. These are fine for startups and what we would call ‘brochure-ware’ sites. They are static for the most part, and provide basic information that doesn’t change often. There’s also no protected content and no database integration. These are great if you need to knock out a website in a hurry, such as for an upcoming event or a sister site that will only be up temporarily. They can cost very little or nothing, and you can use the templates provided and have a nice looking little site.

Mid-level would be something such as a WordPress site. This has additional functionality, lots of plug-ins for added features such as forms and calendars, event management and thousands of templates with nice looking designs. WordPress is easy to use and the administrator tools are simple. Where it is a problem is when you want to do anything advanced. Customization can be difficult, security is very much an issue and it doesn’t have built-in security architecture. So if you have client-only or member-only content, WordPress isn’t ideal for that. And though there are tons of add-ons you can download, the add-on community tends to be comprised more of individuals than companies, so you don’t get the support or followup you’d get from an actual company. If Joe Smith decides he no longer wants to sell, give away or update his add-on, you’re stuck.

High functionality CMS are Drupal, DNN and Umbraco, used frequently by associations. These are open source systems that call for advanced features. The security architecture is more advanced. These systems are ideal when you want to do heavy customization such as single sign-on or custom integration between the website and another system in your organization. And there are tons of available add-on modules. These CMS add-ons are developed more by companies, so from our experience the level of support is more professional and the updating more frequent. They also tend to be more stable and more secure.

Many organizations that are balancing need with budget will choose a mid-level system, not aware that those may not offer the features they want and the security they need, or that they will outgrow its functional capabilities. The tendency is to underestimate what is needed, to say ‘It looks easy to use, and this seems good enough for what we want it to do.’ Bottom line: Your CMS is not the place to cut costs or to not plan for the future.

If and when you need help, give us a holler. At i2Integration, we live and breathe in the world of CMS.

Your Jobs Page: Is It a Wallflower Or a Social Butterfly?

Are you using your website to display job openings? If so, there are some important elements to consider in addition to the job description. How are candidates learning when openings become available? Why not use your site to not only list job openings but to recruit staff? Here are some tips:

Register for notification. Rather than passively posting the information about the job and waiting for resumes to flood your in-box, allow visitors to register and subscribe, so when a relevant position does open up, they will be automatically notified. There are Content Management Systems that have tools that do just that, that function as full-featured job-management tools. And it’s a lot less expensive to do it that way than to custom-build that functionality.

Is your jobs page mobile responsive? With a younger audience especially this is not only important, it’s essential. Also, is your jobs page tied to social media? Are your postings also going out to outlets such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter? i2 can help set your site up to make those links automatically, ultimately making your company more attractive to candidates.

Are you telling the story of your company’s culture, right down to the benefits of living and working in your area? Placemaking is critical these days. Recent studies have shown that location is far more important with the younger generation. For example, are there bike trails nearby? What restaurants, nightlife, cultural attractions and school districts does your area have to offer? You would be wise to include that, and to include it on your jobs page or somewhere that’s easy to find. Doing this also helps your organization’s web search ranking when you link to those features.

Help! I Want to Build a Mobile App.

We see it with both startups and established companies: They want to build a mobile application. They have a vision, but need help with the details. Is it even feasible? How much will it cost? What's involved?

If you've hit these questions, you've at least addressed the basics of whether or not the app has potential. In essence, whether you're a startup or this is a value added to your organization, you should create a mini business plan for your app -- especially if it is intended to be a revenue-generator.

OK, now on to the meaty stuff:

1. Have you created a Vision Document?

This is critical. This is the floorplan. This is what creates the final deliverable and ultimately determines cost, timeline, phases and expectations. Without it, you're flying entirely blind. Worse, you're flying blind and don't even know how much fuel you’ve got!

Your vision doc needs to spell out in detail:

Specific functionality (I want it to do this, and then this…)

A walk-through of the app. Step-by-step, screen by screen. (If I click this, then it does this…)

Also, don't forget the things you need that are outside the app (reports, billing integration, etc.)

2. Have you thought through the business logic needed in the app?

Forms and front-end can be simple. It's the back-end logic where things get complex and time-consuming. An example of business logic might be:

Does every user have the same rights and functionality, or are there special features available based on user, or their group, etc?

Are there workflow requirements? For example, one user creates something, but another has to approve it before moving it along the process.

Does the user have multiple paths s/he can take during a process (whatever that process is)? How are those paths decided? Automatically? User choice? Based on some kind of data it's checking?

Remember, if some combination of business logic only happens once, it still needs to be planned for in programming. Run scenarios to catch it all.

3. What are the minimum features needed to roll out the app?

Does the app need everything completed in order to roll out, or can it be done in phases? What are the minimum Phase 1 requirements? Rolling out the app in phases can save cost and implementation time.

4. Do you have a guinea pig?

One important way to save cost is to first create a wireframe mockup (with clickable buttons, etc.) and then run/beta test by your guinea pigs. What did they like? What would they change? What's not needed? It's amazing how many times the one feature you like (which might take up 60% of development time and cost) ends up being something your users can take or leave. Finding this out early can be a huge cost-saver.

FYI: Everything we just talked about? We can absolutely help you with that. Find out more at www.i2integration.com.

Four Ways to Trim Your Website Redesign Cost

Reducing costs shouldn’t mean sacrificing quality. And when it comes to web redesign, there are reasonable compromises that can be made in order to get what you need and keep the project within budget.

Go with a template design. What used to be one of the major expenses in a website redesign was the actual design, because lo’ those many years ago, every website was created from scratch. Now there are thousands of templates available that you can leverage and with only minimal changes, can make them look completely your own. The nice thing also, is that most themes already have mobile-responsiveness and UI/UX goodies baked into them. Going with a pre-designed theme won’t completely eliminate design, but it will definitely reduce the time needed in coding the architecture of the design.

Migrate your own content. One of the major time-sinks in a site redesign is moving content from the old site to the new or placing new content. This isn’t usually a difficult and technical task, but just extremely time consuming. We see anywhere from half an hour to 45 minutes per page to clean and move content. With a little bit of training, this task could easily be done in-house by your staff and potentially save hundreds of hours in cost.

Reduce custom development. As soon as you want to build anything custom, the ol’ cost-o-meter starts spinning. Is there a way to leverage something that’s already out there? And if what’s out there can’t do everything you need it to do, is there one that is open source -- meaning you get access to the original code -- , one that could be modified without having to build from scratch? One question to ask your developer when they tell you “This may be custom” is, “Is there something already out there we can modify?”

Think of your redesign as a sprint, not a stroll. If you keep the project within a tight timeline and have all your ducks in a row before the redesign begins, costs can be kept to a minimum. If, for whatever reasons, your schedule is more loose than it could be or you don’t have all your content ready, the timeline can drag out. In a lot of cases, drawing a redesign out over a longer period of time only draws out more costs. Making the timeline aggressive can keep costs in line.

How Headless CMS is delivering better web content to your audience

There’s a saying when it comes to the web: content is king. That is true enough, but it’s also true that many association websites have volumes of content that is obsolete or content that is wholly irrelevant to large swaths of their visiting audience.

Wouldn’t it be awesome if the content being provided was custom tailored to each individual visitor as they arrived based upon their interest, their demographic, device used, and appeared or disappeared based on a schedule? It’s here now, and it has a name: the headless CMS.

It’s a terrible name. Why throw in a word that conjures scary thoughts for something that is actually very cool? That’s what happens when tech people make marketing decisions!

What is a headless CMS (content management system)?

If you’ve used WordPress, Drupal, DNN or other similar tools before, you already know what a traditional CMS is. Those types of CMS’s have two parts:

Part 1: the back-end content. This is the text, documents, images and stuff you create.

Part 2: the front-end display. This is the page or screen where your content is displayed.

A traditional CMS manages both parts, controlling the content and the display.

In contrast, a Headless CMS deals with only Part 1, the actual creation and management of the content. With headless CMS, you just create and manage the content, set the rules of who should see versions of the content and from there, it’s sent to display wherever you want it to whether that’s a mobile app, a website, an application, a smart watch/speaker, VR or other devices and platforms.

Here’s some advantages of a headless CMS:

Create content once and have it automatically distributed across a wide number of devices, platforms and applications. Saves administration time.

Assign rules to content. For example: display tailored content if the visitor is a registered member, lives in a certain location, has visited certain pages, and is signed up for an upcoming event! If need be, you can get incredibly granular in how custom the content is. This definitely helps to better engage and talk directly to members.

Because you’re just managing content (instead of content and the entire website), it’s easier to delegate content administration with less training required.

Content can be scheduled to automatically appear or disappear, decluttering your website and apps.

As organizations increasingly look to use analytics and segmented marketing to better acquire and retain members, headless CMS is a potentially powerful new tool to place content as king once more.

Want more info on what a Headless CMS can do for you? i2Integration is happy to assist in strategic discussions, or the implementation of a new CMS for your organization. Call us at 517.371.3931 or email Lisa, Director of Business Development, at lpowers@i2Integration for details.

5 Solid Reasons to Choose i2Integration for your Web, Mobile and Application Design and Development in Lansing

1. We’re local.

We’ve been in Lansing since before we were born (really, our parents lived here). And we’re staying. Located in Delta Township, we’re 5 minutes from downtown, which means we’re not just a voice on the phone. We can also put a face to the voice, providing you on-site attention in short order.

2. We’re trusted.

By whom? Here’s a few in the Greater Lansing area:

Jackson National Life

Sparrow Health System

Consumers Mutual Insurance of Michigan

DeWitt Township

Michigan Society of Association Executives

Michigan Manufacturers Association

Michigan Association of School Boards

Physicians Health Plan of Mid-Michigan

City of Lansing

Lansing Board of Water and Light

3. We’re experienced.

From website design to mobile and custom application development -- if it touches the web, we have designed, built and supported it for organizations all over Lansing and mid-Michigan since 1994. A few project examples:

4. We’re different.

Different in a good way. We’re not a graphics firm. We’re not a marketing firm. We’re the guys those guys turn to when you need to build something complex. Example?

When you need a website to integrate with your CRM or email marketing system

When you need single sign-on between your CMS and another system

When you need a custom application that pushes and pulls data from your internal legacy systems

When you need to track the engagement of your client or members between your website and various third-party systems

When you need a mobile application that involves geolocation tracking

5. We’re invested in the community.

CEO John Forsberg is a former board member of the Michigan Society of Association Executives and has given talks to the Capital Area Career Center, The Explorers Club and various associations and colleges. Mark Stiles, Director of Sales, is a lifelong Lansing resident and keeps i2Integration engaged in the community by serving as a Lansing Regional Chamber ambassador, member of the development council for WKAR and as a guest speaker at marketing, mobile and tech startup conferences around the area.

If you’re looking for a Lansing-based company for website, mobile and application development… look to us!

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